10E4
by The Keyboard
Summary: A runabout is trapped in an alternate universe which is profoundly different from its own. What effects will its presence have, and what will its crew decide to do? This story is set in the same universe and timeframe as "The Loop", and draws some inspiration from the anime "Suisei no Gargantia".
1. Chapter 1

**Special thanks to Infinite Parenthesis for being an unofficial beta reader for this story :D**

 **Interstellar void, 3 light years from Algirae 3-C System**

The U.S.S. Disquisitive hung in space, as if suspended from invisible threads. Its stubby nacelles glowed softly with power, and lights emanated from the countless windows dotting the surface of the hull, piercing the surrounding darkness. It seemed so serene; as if it had been that way for thousands of years. But this could be no further from the truth; the interior of the ship was a flurry of activity, as scientists and engineers attempted to understand the anomaly that floated 3 parsecs from the bow of the ship. It seemed so impossible; a violation of sensibility. Yet it was _there;_ a portal that led to another universe.

Captain Fodin drummed her fingers on the armrest of the commanding officer's chair, contemplating the excited and hushed voices of the people of science around her indifferently. She just didn't share the same excitement that these people had for spatial anomalies. _Thousands_ of these popped up all over the Federation every week. She herself had surveyed _at_ _least_ 500 of these within the span of her career. And if initial scans were to be believed, this anomaly led to an alternate universe. If the Dominion War was anything to go by, anomalies that led to strange, unknown places were best left untouched. _Actually, shouldn't we be figuring out how to close this thing?_ Fodin thought. _Instead, they're trying to find out if it's safe for starships to pass through._

All of a sudden, there was a loud cheer, and people began to applaud and pat one another on the back. Fodin herself was patted roughly a few times by scientists who looked as if they had just been bought a new toy. She stood up from her position of comfort, and pushed her way past a few statue-like Vulcan engineers to get a clearer look at the viewscreen.

On the large, flat screen, a roughly cylindrical object was travelling back to the _Disquisitive_ at speed. _Ah, that was the probe we sent in earlier. So this anomaly does indeed operate like a wormhole._ Scientists and engineers alike crowded enthusiastically around consoles to view the telemetry from the probe.

After a period of hushed discussion, one of them-a representative-said respectfully, "From the data gathered by the probe, we have assessed that it is safe for living beings to travel through the anomaly. Therefore, if it is fine with you, we would like to request a manned expedition to the other end of the anomaly."

"I'm still not too convinced that this is a good idea, but I guess we can send in a runabout? I apologise, but that's the most that I'm willing to send in at the moment, Professor," Fodin answered.

"Thank you, that would be more than enough," the Professor said cheerfully.


	2. Chapter 2

**Shuttlebay, U.S.S. Disquisitive**

"The Captain has requested for volunteers to pilot a runabout to the other side of the anomaly," the Ensign called out.

The shuttlebay, which had been filled with the banter of pilots and off-duty crew alike, was enveloped by a foreboding silence. Most of them had enough of coming into contact with the unknown since the Dominion War, and simply desired a quiet life aboard a starship.

"Come on, it'll be fun! Wasn't this what we wanted to do ever since we joined Starfleet?" Daniel Steward said boisterously as he patted his friend roughly on the back.

"Hey, don't lump me in with you. That's just a fantasy from my younger days," Alan Thompson replied.

"Nah, there's no way we'll encounter anything dangerous! We'll simply pop over to the other side, and return home in time for dinner," Daniel encouraged.

"Fine, but you owe me one," Alan grumbled.

"Alright, are there any volunteers apart from Petty Officers Steward and Thompson?" the Ensign called out again. From the wary looks cast towards her, it was clear that there were none.

"Steward and Thompson are allowed to choose any runabout," the Ensign nodded at the pair of volunteers, and left.

"I guess we'll be taking the _Senegal_ , then?" Daniel asked. The _Senegal_ was a _Yellowstone_ class, one of the newer runabouts on board. Having used it often during their missions, the two knew its systems like the back of their hands

"Alright," Alan said curtly, still rather miffed that Daniel had interrupted his evening nap.


	3. Chapter 3

Alan watched as their runabout slid smoothly out of the _Disquisitive's_ shuttlebay, and arced gracefully towards the anomaly. Watching their home of the past 4 years shrinking into a tiny dot in the distance before being replaced by the white trails of warp travel, he thought wistfully, _I hope we get to see it again. It may be an old_ Ambassador _class; one of the last ships of its kind, but it's home. And its crew is family._

Daniel, on the other hand, was full of enthusiasm. He tapped his right foot sporadically in anticipation, and clutched the armrests of his chair tightly. The chair's moisture absorbers were pushed close to their limit as its user sweated profusely.

"We are nearing the anomaly, Petty Officers Steward and Thompson," the runabout's computer informed them. "Would you like to continue on your current course?"

"Of course," Daniel answered. The runabout slowed to .1c as it scanned the anomaly with its comprehensive sensor suite, searching for hazards within. After the computer had ascertained that there were none, the runabout accelerated slightly to .25c, and rapidly closed the distance between it and the anomaly.

And then they were in. The tiny craft rocked as it was buffeted by intense gravitational fields, but it resolutely continued its preordained course. Terrible energies buffeted against its feeble shields, and the tiny craft rocked like a leaf in the wind.

Within the runabout, Daniel and Alan felt as if their souls (if they existed) were being shaken out of their bodies. "Wha-what's happening?!" Alan shouted above the deafening roar within the craft.

"It appears that the anomaly is destabilising, Petty Officers Steward and Thompson. This is strange indeed; the telemetry indicated that the anomaly would remain stable for a rather significant period of time. Perhaps the phase variance of the sensors was not properly calibrated?" the computer answered calmly, albeit at maximum volume.

Just then, the computer detected a failure within the runabout's systems; one that would greatly reduce the effectiveness of the inertial dampers. In less than a nanosecond, it engaged all the necessary safety protocols to preserve the lives of its crew.

 _Scanners online. Pattern buffers engaged. Physical composition of two occupants: Petty Officer Steward, Petty Officer Thompson: saved. Pattern buffer mode: storage._

Steward's vision was blurry and his mouth was parched and dry. He had almost lost consciousness when his head bumped against the bulkhead. Turning his head, he noticed some kind of warm liquid making its way down the nape of his neck. Then he was surrounded by nimbus of blue light. And then there was darkness.

200 milliseconds before the _Senegal_ was hit by a 10 billion G gravitational wave, and 20 microseconds before the inertial dampers failed completely, the two occupants of the small vessel disappeared.


	4. Chapter 4

The _Senegal_ drifted out of the anomaly, its cuboidal warp nacelles darkened. The spatial anomaly that had brought the unassuming visitor into this universe disappeared behind it, leaving nary a trace. The tiny craft seemed so serene; as if it had been that way for thousands of years. But this could be no further from the truth; within the ship's bioneural gel packs, an intelligence was deciding the vessel's fate.

 _Passage through unidentified anomaly: complete. Ship status: critical. Impulse engines: offline. Warp drive: offline. Life support: offline. Shields: offline. Phaser beam arrays: offline. Torpedo launcher: Offline. Tractor beams: offline. Sensors: heavily damaged. Destroyed subsystems: 589. Damaged subsystems: 3482. Recommended course of action: engage repair systems. Repair systems at 2% efficiency. Estimated time to repair completion: approx. 8.0264 days._

Then the computer turned to an equally pressing matter: the occupants of the craft.

 _Status of pattern buffers: 30% damage. Time required for memory reconstruction: 317.7893 days Estimated accuracy: 99.92%._

And then, to a slightly less pressing matter: their location.

 _Sensor efficiency: 3%. Conducting panoramic scan of star fieldstar field matches galaxy: Milky Way. Triangulating positionposition_ _approximate to last known position. Detailed scans required to refine coordinates. Conducting scans of immediate surroundings. Multiple entities detected within 5 million kilometres. Average entity composition: 91% Fe, 8.5% Ni, 0.5% C. Analysis: ship is within asteroid field. Large energy source present 501,348,872.2km from ship. Estimated class: Type G star. Increasing scan radius to estimated size of type G star system. 7 entities with diameter1000km within scan area. 3_ _rd_ _such entity from type G energy source contains elements necessary for carbon-based life forms. Increasing scan resolution at region occupied by entity. Structures incongruous with entity composition present on entity's surface. Height of largest structure: 26km. Singularities present within orbital space of entity. Number of singularities within scan radius: 3438…_

The computer inquisitively pried out every piece of information it could about the universe it had been brought into, saving them for the time when its masters awoke. In the meantime, 316 days passed…


	5. Chapter 5

The computer stirred from its efforts to repair the pattern buffers, as a new scenario presented itself.

 _1 singularity on approach vector. Type: artificial. Approach velocity: 275,000km/s. ETA: 3.2 min. Analysis: spacecraft belonging to local species. Tactical protocols engagedPower generation: negligible. Energy projection devices: 2. Threat level: low._

T'Alan was delighted. It had simply been a usual working day for him; a day spent mining asteroids to sell at meagre prices on the exchange. Then his sensors detected a strange object floating a scant 100 million kilometres from his position. As more detailed telemetry came in, he began to see that this was no ordinary piece of scrap. For one, its design was unlike any he had ever seen before. In a galaxy that no longer had many mysteries to tell, arcane objects always fetched lofty prices. And thanks to this object before him, he could be rich! He was already thinking of ways to divide the profits between himself and his crew; ways that would be most advantageous to him. Perhaps he could take 40% of the profits, leaving 60% for his 215 employees to divide among themselves?

"Alright people, lock a tractor beam on it!" he shouted. A powerful tractor beam designed to move asteroids locked onto the _Senegal._

"Ok, tractor it into our cargo bay!" he shouted gleefully. The deck beneath him began to vibrate as the gravitic anchors engaged, and the tractor beam strained to pull the _Senegal_ into the cargo bay.

"Very good! Show more enthusiasm! We're all going to become very-" T'Alan stopped, too shocked to utter a word. The object had not budged an inch, despite his tractor beam's best efforts to shift it.

"Captain! Our tractor beam is unable to move the object!" one of his bridge crew exclaimed.

"I can see that! Why is this happening?" T'Alan was frustrated.

"We don't know, sir. Perhaps the object may not be as inert as we thought?" the crew member suggested helpfully.

"I don't care! Put more power into the tractor beam!" T'Alan ordered.

"Sir, the tractor beam is already at full power…" another crew member informed him.

"Since it's come to this, let's play our other card. Focus our mining beam on that thing! Start from low power."

His ship's mining beam, designed to crack asteroids like eggs, was turned on the _Senegal_. T'Alan and his crew watched in anticipation as beam increased in intesity. Still, the object before them appeared to be completely unaffected.

"Divert more power to the beam!" T'Alan ordered once more.

"As with the last time sir, it's already at full power…" the same crew member said wearily.

Meanwhile, on the _Senegal…_

 _Spacecraft closing to 300 metres. 1 energy projection device engaged. Possible use: tractor beam. Gravitational field has been applied to ship's hull. Magnitude: negligible. Inverse warp field deployed to compensate. Second energy projection device engaged. Possible use: offensive/mining device. Magnitude: negligible. Energy projection has impacted ship's hull. Hull integrity: 100%. Hull reinforcement: not required._

 _Possible first contact scenario. Directive 14, section 23: Starfleet personnel are required onsite. Directive overrides life preservation protocol. Starfleet personnel within pattern buffers are to be reconstructed. Memory reconstruction status: 99.953% complete. Personnel reconstruction accuracy: 99.87%nonfatal._

 _Reconstruction commencing._


	6. Chapter 6

_The air was filled by the pungent smell of smoke. He coughed vigorously as the large particles in the air entered his throat. Above him, the PA system valiantly attempted to make itself heard over the din of explosions. "This is acting Captain Fodin speaking. Captain T'Var has…passed on in service of the Federation, and from this moment onwards I will be commanding this vessel." What? How could that stony bastard simply die like that? He told them that he would be participating in the annual shipboard 3D chess tournament!_

 _A comforting hand tapped him on the shoulder, and a human woman with shoulder-length hair said, "Come on! We have to move to the inner blocks! It's not safe here." Thank the Great Bird that you're fine, Aabirah, he thought. He rose from his crouching position, and followed the figure in front of him. Then he was blinded by a bright light, and when he could see again, she was gone…_

Alan opened his eyes. _That was just a nightmare; the Dominion War has ended for more than a decade,_ he realised. With his limited sensory capabilities, he conducted an assessment of his surroundings. _Why am I not in my quarters?_ He wondered. Instead, he appeared to be suspended within some form of small craft, though he could not be sure…

Then it hit him. The ill-fated journey to another universe. The unexpected closing of the anomaly. Their runabout struggling to keep them alive. Then…what? What happened after that?

"Greetings, Petty Officer Thompson. You look well today!" the computer suddenly spoke up.

"Ah, good day…wait! Could you tell me what happened after I became unconscious?" Alan was almost thrown off balance by the mundane nature of the greeting.

"The safety protocols were engaged, and both of you were stored into the ship's transport buffers for future reconstruction. The ship was able to pass through the anomaly, but suffered severe damages. More importantly, the transport buffers experienced relatively extensive damage, which took almost a year to repair," the computer answered.

"Both? What do you mean by tha-" Alan stopped abruptly as he noticed Daniel floating beside him, still unconscious. "Wait, how long has it been since we went into the anomaly?"

"Approximately 316 days, Petty Officer Thompson," the computer replied.

"They must have given up trying to get us back by now…" he sighed.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's note: I realised that I have been mistakenly referring to pattern buffers as "transport buffers", so I'm retroactively changing the terminology used.

Just then, there was a shout to Alan's left. It turned out that Daniel had just awoken, and was just as bewildered as Alan had been when he arose from his long slumber.

"What's going on over here?! Why am I not in my quarters?" he cried out.

"Hey, hey, both of us went into anomaly together. Do you remember?"

Seeing Alan's countenance, Daniel's memories came flooding back. "Uh, yeah, I remember now. What happened after I blacked out?"

"I'll let the computer fill you in on the details. I'm not too sure myself, as I just woke up before you."

After both men had gotten a better idea of the situation they were in, the computer paused for a moment before speaking again. "By the way, both of you may like to know that you are in a possible first contact situation at the moment. A ship belonging to an unidentified species, or group of species, is currently attempting to break through this ship's hull."

"What?! Why didn't you tell us about this earlier?!" Daniel raged.

"It was deemed to be a good idea to get both of you better acquainted with your general situation before informing you of the specifics. While executing a first contact, it is best to have a clear idea of the circumstances you are in. Besides, it had been ascertained that the unidentified ship is of no threat to this ship, so you were at no point in time in the way of harm," the computer calmly replied.

"…Fair enough. So what can you tell us about these aliens?" Daniel asked.

"The ship that is currently attempting to breach our hull is likely to be a mining ship. Judging from the similarity of this ship's equipment to those of mining ships of earlier eras, there is a strong possibility that the species, or group of species you are facing does not have transporter technology."

"So, at least we'll have some sort of leverage during negotiations," Daniel said thoughtfully.

"By the way, the unidentified ship sent subspace message around 20 minutes ago, to a ship orbiting the third planet of this system. The translated message has been displayed on the viewscreen," the computer added.

It read:

Dear Captain Aerik,

I have just made a discovery that you will find hard to believe. You have helped me out many times in the past, but this time the payoffs will be huge. I'll give you 50% of the profits if you assist me in my recovery efforts this time.

Yours Sincerely,

T'Alan

P.S. I'll make sure that your superiors in the Space Force don't find out that your balance increased all of a sudden.

"Corruption," Alan exclaimed in disgust. "Besides, why does this person's name sound so similar to mine…"

"Regardless of the moral character of the beings we are dealing with, the ship that received this message is currently heading towards you at a velocity that would allow it to come within a light second of you in approximately 4 minutes and 27 seconds," the computer informed them.

"Can we get a visual of the ship heading towards us?" Daniel asked.

A holographic display appeared in front of their eyes, giving them a clear view of the approaching vessel. One thing that stuck out at them was the distinct lack of any type of structure that could serve as a warp nacelle. In addition, the vessel had a white matte surface, and had an exceedingly angular design. There was not a single curve on the ship; quite unlike graceful Federation designs. It was composed of a lengthy primary structure flanked by two shorter secondary structures. There was no apparent physical connection between the secondary structures and the primary structure, giving the vessel a mysterious appearance. Grooves adorned its surface, giving the otherwise flat finish some depth. Completing the unique appearance of the ship were obsidian black trapezoidal regions filled with the pinpoint lights of windows.

Both humans aboard the runabout were impressed by the ship's appearance. "Could you tell us how long that ship is?" Alan asked.

"According to estimations, it is approximately 6389.23 metres in length," the computer replied blasély.


End file.
